Admiral Porter’s Ironclad Hoax During the American Civil War

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Signal rockets pierced the darkness over Vicksburg, Mississippi, on February 25, 1863. Dozing Southern artillery crews sprang to life, yelling, ‘Ironclad approaching!’ Supporting a skull-and-crossbones flag at her bow, the iron hulk protruded guns from all sides. Both paddle-wheel housings bore the taunting legend ‘Deluded People Cave In.’ Angered by the vessel’s audacity, the Confederate batteries opened a blistering fire. ‘Never did the batteries of Vicksburg open with such a din,’ recalled Union Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. ‘The earth fairly trembled, and shot flew thick and fast around the devoted monitor.’ Incredibly, the vessel simply cruised past at her leisure with no alteration in speed, nor did she bother to return fire.

On course to Vicksburg, the Confederate ram Queen of the West spotted the behemoth and swung quickly around. Her captain, James McCloskey, recalled, ‘Her guns were run out and her deck was cleared for action.’ With her steam up, Queenretreated downriver with the ironclad seemingly in pursuit. What the panic-stricken McCloskey failed to realize was that the giant Union ironclad was a giant hoax sent to prevent the salvage of a real Union ironclad, USS Indianola.

Indianola was part of a new, supposedly faster class of river ironclads constructed to bolster the sluggish river ‘tinclads’ currently in use. Named for the city in Iowa, she possessed the shallow draft of a conventional riverboat, but with casemates of 3-inch armor plating in the bow and stern. For wide-angle firing, two powerful 11-inch Dahlgren cannons were placed on pivots in the front casemate. Two 9-inch guns were mounted in the rear. Two side paddle wheels, enclosed in iron housings, and two screw propellers beneath the stern propelled Indianola. Each paddle wheel had its own engine, enabling the vessel to turn sharply in narrow channels. The crew’s quarters were virtually nonexistent, since the engines took up most of the interior space. Despite that, she could only manage a paltry 6 knots, or slower if going against the current. Anticipation, however, was great for Indianola — so great that no journalists were allowed on board to reveal her secrets.

Lieutenant Commander George Brown was tabbed as Indianola’s skipper. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Brown had seen action with the blockading fleets off Mobile and New Orleans.

On January 23, 1863, Indianola joined the Mississippi Squadron under Admiral Porter, son of the controversial Commodore David Porter of War of 1812 fame. Commodore Porter was a hot-tempered, impulsive man who once led an unauthorized attack on the Puerto Rican city of Fajardo to force an apology from Spanish authorities for arresting one of his officers. He was subsequently court-martialed and resigned his commission. He then served in the Mexican navy, taking his son along with him. Young David served as a midshipman on the Mexican vessel Guerrero off the coast of Cuba. After an encounter with a Spanish frigate, he was captured and spent several months in a Havana prison. Eventually he returned to the United States, and in 1847 he served with distinction against the country he previously fought for as a U.S. Navy captain aboard the steamer Spitfire.

During the early days of the Civil War, Porter commanded a flotilla of mortar schooners that were used with telling effect against Confederate forts guarding the passage to New Orleans. Impressed with his vigor, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles tapped Porter for command of the Mississippi Squadron, even though 80 naval officers preceded him in rank. Consumed with ambition, Porter would not hesitate to trample on a fellow officer if he could benefit from doing so. One newspaper correspondent wrote that he was ‘vain, arrogant and egotistical to an extent that can neither be described nor exaggerated.’ For all his vanity, Porter possessed extraordinary resourcefulness, a tremendous asset in river warfare.

Porter’s vessels operated above Vicksburg, held at bay by the city’s formidable batteries. The Mississippi Squadron consisted of ‘City Class’ ironclads financed by wealthy steamboat salvager James Eads, mortar schooners, transports and the steamboat rams commanded by Colonel Alfred Ellet. More than 50 vessels would eventually join Porter’s command, including his sumptuous flagship, Black Hawk. Porter’s flagship included such amenities as a gourmet kitchen and a cow for fresh milk. Impressed with Black Hawk’s bill of fare, Union Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman would often leave their billets to dine with the admiral.

The Confederacy still held a 240-mile-long portion of the Mississippi between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, La. Some 45 miles upriver from Port Hudson, the Red River flowed into the Mississippi from the Confederacy’s western states — a vital source of food and manpower. Admiral David Farragut had conquered that portion of the river the previous summer, but was forced to return to New Orleans after the river level dropped. An attempt to circumvent Vicksburg by digging a canal ended in failure.

That the Rebels were still able to supply Vicksburg was particularly vexing for Porter and gave newspapers fodder to launch barbs at the admiral. The Chicago Tribune labeled him ‘The greatest humbug of the war. He absolutely never accomplished anything unaided. He bombarded Vicksburg for months; threw hundreds of tons of metal into the city; never hit but one house and never killed a man. The Confederates laughed at him.’ As a further inducement to act, Assistant Navy Secretary Gustavus Fox telegraphed Porter that he would be made a full admiral if he could reconquer the lower Mississippi.

Porter decided instead to send a ram, one of the lightweight maneuverable vessels designed by Charles Ellet Jr., downriver to disrupt Confederate supply shipments. Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet, the 19-year-old son of Charles Ellet Jr., was given the assignment. Porter thought highly of young Ellet and considered him a ‘gallant young fellow, full of dash and enterprise.’ A former medical student, Ellet had no formal naval training, but made up for it with a relentless courage in battle. No fort or vessel was too tough for his ram. At the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, he personally accepted the surrender of that city after the fleet commanded by his father annihilated the Confederate River Defense Fleet. Ironically, Charles Ellet Jr. was the only Federal casualty of that battle, dying of his wounds later in the month.

Colonel Ellet took command of Queen of the West and was ordered to ram the steamboat City of Vicksburg, moored at the Vicksburg docks, then proceed downriver, destroying any Confederate vessels along the way. The attack was to be at night to conceal Queen from the city’s batteries. Porter warned Queen’s crew: ‘Look out for [yourselves] and press with full speed downriver. If you get disabled, drift down until abreast of our batteries and a small army steamer will go to your assistance. The great object is to destroy all you can of the enemy’s stores and provisions and get your vessel back safe.’ Ellet reinforced the ram with two layers of cotton bales around the decks and bulwarks. To protect the helmsman, the wheel was moved below the pilothouse to the lower deck. Unfortunately, the pilot’s view was significantly reduced, forcing Ellet to move the wheel back to the pilothouse. Precious time was lost during the experimentation, and Queen would have to attack in daylight.

Hugging the Mississippi’s west bank, Queen rounded De Soto Peninsula on February 2. Ellet made a hard left turn and headed directly for City of Vicksburg. The Mississippi was at flood stage, causing the current to flow more rapidly. Queen became caught in a powerful eddy and was forced to veer off course. Still, the ram was able to strike a glancing blow, taking out a portion of Vicksburg’s cabin. While the two vessels were interlocked, Ellet managed to start a blaze on Vicksburg, but the Southern crewmen doused the fire before it caused much damage.

The vessels then moved apart, providing Vicksburg’s river batteries with the opportunity to shell Queen. The Rebel shellbursts soon ignited some of Queen’s cotton-bale armor, forcing Ellet to concentrate on saving his ship rather than destroying his enemy. The Yankees went to work beating out the flames and headed downriver through a storm of shot and shell. A group of Rebel infantrymen added to Queen’s misery by popping off at the burning ship as she floated by.

Crewmen on Queen pushed burning cotton bales overboard. Ellet reported: ‘After much exertion, we finally put out the fire by cutting the bales loose….We were struck twelve times, but though the cabin was knocked to pieces, no material injury to the boat or any of those on her was inflicted.’ City of Vicksburg was not sunk, but a hole was punched in the ship below the waterline. She was later propped up on two coal barges, and her machinery and cargo were salvaged.

Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Naval Battles

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